Bits & Bobs, Odds & Ends

 

 

Bits & Bobs, Odds & Ends Part 1

Great News!!! The Dangling Journey has just booked its first table at a fair. This is huge for us! It’s the biggest exposure we’ve had and hopefully will generate a lot of attention and sales. It also means I have to get to work creating more things to display.

Luckily I have had a backlog of things I made and never got around to posting either because I wasn’t excited about them or I made something else and forgot they were there. In any case it’s now their turn for the spotlight.

 

First up is this lady if the night. No, I don’t mean she’s provocative but to me this pairs seems more like something you’d wear in the evening. They are made form a funky black bead, followed by a resin spacer and topped with a bronze “disco” ball. They seem like a pair of earrings up for some fun. So I’ll call them Randy, get it?

 

 

Next are two pair I made back in the Spring. I bought packs of glass beads and made several pair including the three from my Something Blue post. These two pair feature a large blue bead with other beads dangling from the end. Both pairs have beads that complement the central bead, one pair has another blue glass bead as well. I’ll call them Big Blue.

 

 

 Finally the last pair is a pair I just made about two weeks ago. I bought all of the beads on different occasions but when I got the last set home I made these beauties. A lot of times I make earrings because something comes to mind when I see the beads. Next week I hope to feature my cocktail pieces. But these beads remind me of maraschino cherries, so I’ll call them Cherry. And when I saw the gold beads I had to put them together. They are really fun and hope everyone enjoys them as much as I do.  

 

These four pair will be making their way to our stall/table at the fair in Wraysbury Village Hall on September 17^th unless one of you would like first dibs. If so just get in touch.

All pairs $8.08 or £6.15 Including shipping
   

To make a purchase please leave a comment with your email address. I'll send you an invoice through paypal. Items will ship once payment is confirm.
       

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Conniving

Claudette

I love watching a certain soap opera here in the UK, I’ve been watching it on and off since I was a teenager. Recently a character joined the story who I despise. She lies, she kills, and she acts like she loves her family but she just wants to control them. She wants them to be something they aren’t and doesn’t accept who they really are. She comes off as a nice caring soul but really she’s a terrible person. However, for the past three weeks she’s been wearing a killer pair of earrings! The first time I saw them I thought ‘I’ve got to make those!’

 So my first attempt came out well, the spiral is lovely but when I put it on the hook they’re ... crooked, just like Claudette.

 

I tried again and this time they did come out straight.

 

 

I tell you this craft wire is a very useful material but very tricky to work with. There is only one pair of each available.

£12.00 including UK shipping, $16.00 including US shipping

Wedding Pictures

As Promised

 Before the wedding I promised I would post pictures of the day. I just received the pictures from the photographer so its perfect timing. I can showcase the earrings I made for myself as well as the ones my mom wore on the day. I've tried to only post pictures that feature the earrings.

 Both pairs have Swarovski crystals, pearls, shamballa beads and crystal rondelle spacers. My mom took her pair back to the States with her but if anyone would like to purchase the style I can make another. The same goes for my pair.

£21.00 UK including shipping, $24.00 US including shipping

I stopped posting earrings a few months before the wedding, that's because we were VERY busy. Neil and I did just about everything ourselves. I've said this and people say "Yes, we all do" but I mean everything! Okay we didn't cater the reception, make our clothes or drive the bus, but we did just about everything else.
 



 
 

Me and my parents on our way to the ceremony
and coming into Windsor Guildhall



We didn’t have a wedding coordinator, planner or even bridesmaids. And since my mom and most of my family is in the States we didn’t have much help. We booked the venues (and as you know had a lot of trouble from the Home Office), booked the transport and had to create a scenic route for the bus to take on the day so we’d have time to celebrate with our guests on the way to the reception (because not everyone could stay).We made our invitations ourselves. We bought really nice paper and several sets of stamps, along with ribbon and embellishments.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 










We ran around getting drinks to have on the bus, then we decided to have tickets for our guests to ride. Yup, we made them too along with the favors. We’d gone around for months collecting pretty glass bottles for our centerpieces from charity shops and car boot sales (that’s thrift stores and flea markets in American). We went to a fabric store and bought fabric that I then cut into strips for the chair sashes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few weeks before we bought the plastic glasses to have on the bus. We bought all the candles for the centerpieces, confetti and little bags for throwing the confetti. I had seen people have a picture frame as their guest book so I bought a frame with a large matte and typed up a poem instructing people to sign the matting so we could treasure it. Once we got everyone’s meal choices I made place cards for the tables.

 

 

 

 

 

On the Saturday before the wedding we got up at 4:00am and went to New Covent Garden Flower Market and bought the flowers. The night before I made my bouquet, the throwing bouquet (or the tosser as I called it, which is a rude word here), boutineers for Neil, my dad and my brother, my mom’s corsage, a memorial piece to my grandparents (which sat on the first seat at the ceremony where I would have wanted them to sit if they were here. I knew I wanted flowers in my hair, and we still had some flowers left over so I made little arrangements for the table as well.
 

I was so glad the photographer caught this. A special moment
with my grandparents who I missed so much on the day

I’d had the music picked for my wedding for years. The ceremony venue would take a CD. I put all the music on a CD but the CD wouldn’t play on their player. So a week before the wedding we had to run around shops looking for CDs with the music on it (because all of my CDs are in the States). I didn’t end up with all of the music I’d wanted but it would do. I bought an MP3 player to play music on the bus and created playlists for the bus journey, eating at the reception and dancing (no need for a DJ). I even played certain songs so we’d know what to do; AWB’s Cut the Cake – for cutting the cake, and Beyonce’s (Single Ladies)Put a Ring On It to call all the single ladies to the floor for the bouquet toss.

 

 

 

The morning of the wedding Neil, my parents and I went to the reception venue and set it up. Neil did all the centerpieces and I tied the chair sashes. My parents helped a little too and we got the whole room set up in less than an hour.

 

 

My mother said to me on the day “Why are you doing everything?” Because we wanted to, because both Neil and I are control freaks, a bit OCD and very picky. We  knew what we wanted and we knew no one would do it how we wanted it. So at the end of a long day, once the guests left and Neil had given people rides to train stations and hotels. Neil and I went back to the reception venue (after I’d taken off my gown) and cleared up the reception venue. We had all the boxes and bags from the day in our hallway and some in Neil’s trunk till the next day.

 

Keep in mind that apart from all of this, we had my parents staying with us which we had to prepare for, I had a few family members coming from the States that I made welcome packets for. There was cooking and cleaning to be done in preparation for their arrivals. Doctor’s appointments, nail appointments, dress appointments, picking people up from the airport. We were knackered! I still don’t know if we’ve recovered. But is was a blast! I wish we could do it again. And there’s still a lot to do. I haven’t finished the Thank You cards yet. And there are still boxes in the hallway!

 

Neither pair are currently in stock but can be made to order £12.00 or $20.00 including shipping to the US and UK.. Please leave a comment or send an email in your would like to make a purchase. I will send you an invoice through paypal. Items will be made and shipped once payment is confirmed. Please allow up to two weeks to receive once ordered.

 

WiRed

Wired

 

A few months ago I bought some craft wire. I’ve done a few pieces with it but I hadn’t really experimented with it to see where it could go. One thing is for sure with handmade craft wire jewelry, as hard as you try the two earrings will never come out exactly the same. There will be minute differences between them. My Step mother’s birthday is next week and I wanted to make a pair of earrings to send her so I spent an afternoon playing around.

 

This is the pair I sent to her, I’m calling them Karen’s Orbit because the design made me think of something going “around the world” while I was wrapping the bead and my step-mother’s name is Karen.  They consist of a red colored bead with the craft wire swirled around it. On the bottom there is a silver (color not metal) bead with a swirl in it.

 

With this pair I was just fooling around, seeing where it would take me. It’s funny I’ve often heard artists say things like that but I never really knew what they meant by it. I ended up with these (heavy) beauties that I call Angel because to me they look a bit like angels. So the lucky lady who wears these will have an angel on each shoulder. They consist of two blue glass beads (the oblong bead gives the earring its heft), one faceted bead and one pearl bead.

As always both pair have silver plated findings and come with the backs to ensure you don’t lose them. The craft wire is also silver plated and is tarnish-free.

I’ve also had a development in the past few weeks. I had my first US purchase a few weeks ago so I can accurately gauge the prices now. I’ll go back to shipping inclusive pricing but the prices will be slightly higher to cover shipping costs.

There is one of each pair available. Karen’s Orbit Sold for UK delivery, Angel $9.30 for US delivery £7.00 for UK delivery.

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 For purchase leave a comment or send an email; payments are accepted through PayPal. Items will be shipped once payment is confirmed.